


Musty Old Books and Summer Nights

by deird1



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen, season: b1-2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-15
Updated: 2009-11-15
Packaged: 2017-10-02 19:49:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deird1/pseuds/deird1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Giles spends his summer. (season 1)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Musty Old Books and Summer Nights

_…you will stand and fight, and then you will die, and the one they call Master will rise and claim his kingdom…_

Giles spends his summer lost in a book.

"Lost" being the operative word.

_…'ware! 'ware! the day of plans and plots, spells and battles. For you are looking the wrong way, and She Who Sees will come and slit your throat. The awakening draws nearer…_

His desk is set up neatly - with a notepad, a selection of pens, a few of the more significant texts he might need to check, cards for cross-referencing, a cup of tea close to hand…

…and in pride of place, the Codex.

Everything ready and waiting for him to read through the later pages, and find out exactly what Buffy can expect over the next few years.

_…will turn and face the darkness, and let it claim you.  
O unhappy day, when…_

It's odd, though.

There are prophecies concerning different Slayers throughout history. The 15th century, the 16th, the 17th, and so on…

Then there are two paragraphs concerning Buffy - ending with her death at the Master's hands.

And then it moves on.

_…your Twin comes to kill you.  
Two cannot exist as one…_

Buffy is alive and well and visiting her father, but the Codex seems to think that she's dead and gone.

After confidently predicting her demise, it continues to confidently predict the calling of the next Slayer, and the Slayer after that.

Two short paragraphs. Just two.

It's as if Buffy didn't survive at all.

_…the world turns, the days pass, and yet you sleep, with nothing but your dark dreams to…_

He's always been told that the Codex is correct in every particular - but it's clearly not as accurate as it claims.

Giles isn't sure what to make of it.

_…burns, and yet you will stay in chains. For you cannot trust yourself. And the world is better without your rage, your violence…_

In the end, he puts it aside.

The notepad goes back in its drawer, the pens are packed away, the tea is drunk.

The Codex ends up at the back of his bookcase, behind the books on 12th century potion-making. And Giles tries not to think about it anymore. It's too unsettling.

_…the witch. Your line will divide, and you will be two.  
You will be guardian and captive, awake and asleep, teacher and martyr, one and the other.  
And long-held plans will come to…_

And after all - when it comes right down to it, predicting the future isn't nearly as impressive as it's cracked up to be.


End file.
